Zohuar
Zohuars are a savage race of reptilian-like humanoids native to Gaia, with the majority of them dwelling in the hot jungles of the Far Lands while a smaller population inhabit the subterranean regions and networks of underground caverns below the surface of the Eastern Kingdom. Culture and Society Society The Zohuars' society is highly sophisticated. It was they who first became the one of the world's first true civilizations, erecting their cities on the ruins of their former masters. Zohuar society has remained largely unchanged since their creation, being focused around a highly structured and strictly enforced caste system. This caste system was built and formed by the orders of the Old Masters, whom themselves created each of the separate Zohuar species to fulfill a certain role in their society. Each and every core species is born into one of these castes. The Zohuars are taught and perhaps bred to be fanatically loyal and willing to die to fulfill their respective duties, offering little room for any sense of individuality or freedom of thought among their kind. Within the system, each caste is composed strictly of one or two of the core species meant to fulfill an extremely important part of their society, either as workers, warriors or rulers. Culture The Zohuars revere the First Ones as all-mighty deities, the ancient progenitors of their race. With no first hand knowledge of the First Ones, and with their records scattered and incomplete since the fall of the Old Masters, they have but a mere fragmented and vague picture of their progenitors. While superstitious acts have gained in popularity since the demise of the Old Masters, these were taken to horrific new levels with the coming of the new god Krosk. Inspired by Xltihtlu'al, the chosen prophet of Krosk, priests led the ritualistic mass-slaughter of untold thousands of captives. These prisoners were sacrificed in horrific fashion, sometimes thrown alive into the gaping jaws of hungry beasts, other times split open and choice organs offered to the heavens above. For the most part, the leader caste leave such barbaric practices alone, although they could no longer ignore the popular rise of Krosk, nor could they rein in the practice of offering up sacrifices to attract the blessings of the gods. There is a subculture, an darker and more brutal kind of worship is prevalent among some circles of Zohuars, these individuals have abandoned the First Ones and instead worship the Old Masters having come to regard them as a distant, long-lost pantheon of hungry tyrannical gods. These heretics, as they are known are considered traitors and degenerates by the rest of their race, and are ruthlessly hunted down. Major Gods *'Krosk':' '''God of Blood. The upstart god and newcomer. *'Solax': God of the Sun. *'Ixyel': Warrior God. *'Axcaxen': King of the Gods and first of the Zohours. *'Muxtictol': Consort of Axcaxen and mother of the Zohours. *'Nehtlonel': Arbiter of duty and giver of strength. Lesser Gods * '''Thallax': Goddess of the Moon. * Xiccal: Guardian of Waterways. * Qazdel: Feathered serpent god of the air. * Huan: The Unkempt Keeper. * Sumdar: The Life Harvester. * Yeyar: The Father of Perversions. * Akton: The Crawling Maw. * Vislir: The Pale Defiler. Reproduction The Zohuars are not born from eggs, like their feral reptilian cousins, but are birth from special pools and ponds located within specific regions of the jungles that they inhabit. Due to their amphibious origins, some days after the spawning begins, little tadpoles emerge out of the water, growing in numbers and size at an extremely accelerated rate, feeding on insect larva and the enormous swarms of tropical insects that hover both above the water. When the spawnlings are fully developed they emerge unto dry land in enormous numbers all at the same time.Category:Species Category:Gaia Category:Races